Wednesday, May 23, 2012

A Better Purpose

I notice that my glorious peonies no longer hold the same beauty today. They seem too big for themselves. They collapse onto the grass and dirt. Even when coaxed by a cage to stand tall and firm, they outgrow it and fall.

I'm standing in front of this bush, and I think about the weight of self-focus and self-absorbing tendencies that make us collapse and suffer in the prison of our own egos.

"I have a better purpose for you," I say with garden shears in hand. "You will make the world beautiful, so just stop thinking about yourself all day long." I'm laughing at these fat peonies and taking a good long look at my own spiritual tendencies.

Balancing introspection with the mission to love a hurting world challenges me some days. God takes us in hand, prunes us, and uses us to showcase beauty to a hurting world.

Otherwise, we just collapse under our own weight into the dirt. God, prune me! Lift me up from the dirt and use me!

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Have you found a good balance between self-focus and focus on others?

1 comment:

Hi Heather, love your blog! And your book! I often reference it - as I'm not a natural born writer. Just wanted to give you a heads up, I read once that peonies aren't safe for cats. I once lost a cat to flowers (poisoning,) so I wanted to let you know. Lauren

About Me

In my writing classes, we talk about writing with flair, but lately I've been interested in what it means to live with flair. Can I find a way to make every day impressive and meaningful? Just as a sentence turns into something beautiful with the right verb and punctuation, can I learn to revise my day and punctuate it with flair?

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More about me. . .

I'm a wife and mother of two who teaches college writing. I love writing novels, encouraging teachers, reflecting on spiritual principles in everyday life, drinking tea out of my little blue teapot, petting my cats, exercising, lighting candles, reading grammar books, watching movies and any television show with singing and dancing in it, entertaining, eating leftover Chinese food, and blogging. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.